Finch Class
Descended from the F5 pIH (Suspicious) Class Frigates Transferred to the Romulan Star Navy as part of the Klingo-Romulan Alliance‏‎, the Finch Class came into existence when these warships were refit with Romulan technology in 2269. Although since replaced by the native Romulan Gladius Class, the Finch and her scout variant, the Finch-S Class remain in service to bolster numbers, especially in backwater areas. Development In the various border skirmishes that had occurred between the Klingon Empire and the Federation in the 2230s, a requirement emerged for a vessel that could serve as the eyes and ears of the larger Cruisers. This was further highlighted in the disastrous raids of 2244, officially denounced as the actions of rogue Captains. A design soon emerged, essentially a shrunken D5A Qa'HoS (Relentless) Class Light Cruiser. This continued the traditional "boom and wing" design of the larger Cruisers, although a problem arose in that the ship was too small to mount the usual Photon Torpedo armament. This was not considered much of a concern, as she would be largely used for scouting rather than direct combat. (not that this was a concern either, given the high honour that the Klingons put on dying in battle). Instead, the pIH Class was fitted with four Disruptors, for attacking lightly defended targets, and powerful impulse engines, giving her an impressive turn of speed. Warp capability was provided by a single nacelle on the centreline of the ship. In 2266, after the Neutral Zone Incident, the Romulan Star Navy began to come to the same conclusions as the Klingon Defence Force had some 20 years earlier. They needed a lighter ship to service as the eyes and ears of the fleet, and to screen heavier vessels as they recharged their Plasma Torpedos. Romulan Technology of the time was firmly Fusion based, having rejected M/AM Power after a series of disasters in the 2170s. It was rapidly becoming apparent however that M/AM power was the future, and that fusion based ships simply couldn't compete, especially with the rate of technological development being seen in the Federation at that time. Fortunately, the Klingon Empire had also realised that the Federation was now their prime adversary, and the two powers had entered into a political and technological alliance in 2249. The technological exchange portion of the new Klingo-Romulan Alliance lasted until 2278, during which time, the Klingon Empire gave several classes of ship to the Romulan Star Empire in return for the secrets of Cloaking Technology. Although neither side was entirely honest, trading second-rate examples of M/AM power and Cloaking Devices respectively, the benefit to both powers was immediately clear. Klingon warships were rapidly refit with Cloaking Devices, and the Romulans now had reliable, albeit foreign, M/AM power. Although the first Klingon warships traded to the Romulans in 2250 were of the old D6A Kl'ar (Leader) Class, a type of older Heavy Cruiser, the Star Empire requested smaller, faster vessels for use with the RSN until new Romulan designs could fill the requirement. This lead to the transfer of several flotillas of F5 pIH (Suspicious) Class. Initially these ships were operated "as-is", with Klingon weaponry and systems, albeit fitted with a Romulan-Type Cloaking Device. After the planned invasion of the Federation was cancelled in 2267, and in light of the Federation capture of an operational Cloaking Device in the Enterprise Incident of the same year, the RSN began to upgrade all their KR Series warships to use Romulan standard technology, including weapons systems. The pIHs in RSN service were upgraded to carry a Cohesive Fused Deuterium Irradiation Cannon in a weapons rollbar almost identical to the type fitted to the F5B pIH (Suspicious) Class of the same period. (It seems likely that although the Klingons provided older, F5 pIH (Suspicious) Class warships, they did provide the plans for the newer F5B variant). After having most of her systems replaced with their Romulan counterparts, the Romulan pIH was rechristened the Finch Class. Romulan Sensor systems were considerably more powerful than Klingon ones, and required greater power to operate. This lead to a compromise where overall shield strength was lowered in order to provide power to sensors. It was hoped that with a powerful Romulan-Type Cloaking Device and the new more powerful sensors allowing the Finch to dictate where and when combat occurred, the reduction in shield strength would not be a critical weakness. In addition, several were converted to carry extremely powerful sensor arrays in lieu of the CFDIC. These became known as the Finch-S Class Scout Frigate. Operational History The new Finch Class first saw combat in the 4th Gorn-Romulan War in 2282. Although by this time she had been supplemented (with the intention to be replaced by) the Gladius Class Frigate (and her Scout Variant), the Finch remained in service in more backwater areas, particularly the Gorn Frontier (which was believed to be secure after the stunning victories of the 3rd Gorn-Romulan War in 2248). Although slower than the new Gorn ships encountered, the Finch was remarkably nimble, and proved effective enough to remain in limited production (being simpler to produce than the Gladius Class). She later served in support fleets and reserve forces during the Organian Conflict (with the Romulan entry into that war occurring during the "Day of the Eagle" in 2286). Much like her Klingon progenitor, the Finch and Finch-S Class Frigates were never in the thick of the action, but the intelligence they gathered was invaluable to Romulan Battlefleets. By the end of the War of Pacification, the Finch had largely been replaced in service due to the massive reconstruction efforts of the Romulan Star Navy in light of the war. Relegated to the backwaters of the Star Empire, she never the less saw limited combat during the General War against the Romulans most hated enemy, the Gorn Confederacy. Apocrypha After her involvement in the Praxis Incident of 2293 was revealed, the Romulan Star Empire began to once again withdraw behind her borders, withdrawing from galactic affairs again all together in the aftermath of the Tomed Incident in 2311. Even before this time, Romulan tactics had begun to turn away from fleet engagements and back to single "lone wolf" warships, now of a gargantuan size dwarfing the Crickets and Capsize Classes of old. The Finch and Finch-S Class Frigates, long overdue for replacement, were finally withdrawn in the closing years of the 23rd Century. Specifications * Class: 'Frigate * 'Hull Type Designation: '''RFKF * '''Length: 153m * Crew: 45 * Warp Nacelles: '''1 * '''Maximum Sublight Speed: 4200 k/s (42 Mk/s) * Cruise Warp Factor Speed: wf 7.0 * Safe Maximum Warp Factor Speed: wf 8.5 * Hull Rating: '170 HSF * 'Shield Rating: 230 FSP * Sensor Rating: 1000 SRU * Armament and Equipment: ** Primary *** 4 × Disruptor Cannon ** Secondary *** None ** Heavy *** 1 × Cohesive Fused Deuterium Irradiation Cannon (CFDIC) ** Advanced *** None ** Equipment *** Tractor Beam Emitter *** Romulan-Type Cloaking Device *** Probes Ships in Service (2292) RSE Finch RSE Chaffinch RSE Bullfinch RSE Hawfinch RSE Siskin RSE Rosefinch RSE Grosbeak RSE Goldfinch RSE Serin RSE Linnet RSE Greenfinch RSE Twite RSE Redpoll RSE Crossbill RSE Oriole RSE Serinvs RSE Cardvelis RSE Aeragvs RSE Eptheca RSE Venen RSE Imbrivm RSE Vesinvs RSE Vibirivs RSE Vrenek RSE Venerex RSE Consvltvm RSE Vetallvs RSE Cero RSE Faccvs RSE Plolvivs RSE Octisivs RSE Pebivs RSE Nitrontvs RSE Convvivs RSE Acceivs RSE Pvnia RSE Dvcteris RSE Vedisor RSE Etrivs RSE Facillimvs RSE Minvtivs RSE Alficvs RSE Eqvinivs RSE Neccelvs RSE Epistvla Category:Romulan Vessels Category:Frigates